Chapter 17

No way. I wish I was wrong but perhaps…

My imagination was running wild. Did the monster become ferocious because the magic stone was mined?

I’d never heard of any connection between monsters and the magic stone before. However, given that an object of that much magical power vanished suddenly and soon after the attack happened, there could be a correlation.

In that case, didn’t that mean what transpired was my fault?

Right now, the wrecked appearance of the monster before me overlapped with the image of the peaceful village. A shiver ran down my spine because the reason this time was different from before.

“Why… Did something like this occur? Maybe, because the magic stone was… mined?”

“No.”

I spat out those words after a lot of agonizing thoughts, but Vergarde refuted it rather quickly.

“Re-Really?”

“Is there a reason I would lie to you?”

“No… There isn’t, but…”

As I hesitated, Vergarde continued walking away. Since I still had something to say, I hurriedly called out to him making him come to a halt.

“Just a moment please!”

“Do you still have some unfinished business with me?”

“Yes. I… Thank you for helping me.”

Vergarde didn’t respond. I stared at his receding back for a long time.

***

Seeing that the monster was all taken care of, the village folk started restoring the village which was now in a disorganized state.

In the chaos earlier, there must have been young children who got separated from their parents for the sounds of someone desperately calling out names could be heard from time to time.

And then I too, came face to face with a person looking for me.

“Miss! Are you okay? My goodness, what is going on?”

Leah was deathly pale. I wiped all the monster’s blood that splattered on my face, but I was too exhausted to clean the blood that soaked my clothes. I hadn’t looked in a mirror, but I was sure I had an alarming appearance.

“Let’s go back, Leah.”

“Yes.”

Arriving at the location of the carriage, I saw the astonished expression on the escort’s face. He must have thought I wouldn’t return alive.

Without sparing him a glance, I told the coachman to take us back to the mansion. When I get back, I have to indirectly tell Marianne to fire this guy. If I told her he was an escort who abandoned his employer and ran away, it would raise a lot of awkward questions.

Since I didn’t have the energy to speak, I instructed Leah to not disturb me. I settled my body in the chair.

Maybe because I was in bad shape, the Crescente Household’s carriage which normally felt comfortable now rather felt discomfiting. I guess it didn’t matter how luxurious it was. A carriage was, after all, still a carriage.

“I wonder why something like this happened…”, I murmured looking out the window. Vergarde said it wasn’t because of the Magic Stone. Then was there another unexpected change? I couldn’t figure it out, no matter how much I thought about it.

What happened in the book? I went over what I could remember, pressing my temples hard. But of course, I couldn’t recall anything which could have caused this.

Ramona’s party also discovered the Magic stone and mined it with the help of the Imperial Palace. However, that happened during a time when the conflict between humans and demons was at its peak and so monsters and demons took hostile actions against humans.

During that period, the monster leaping out of Mt. Broke wasn’t anything special.

Now that I think about it, in the book it said that demons and monsters cooperated to attack humans. This time, however, the demons fought the monsters. Why did that happen instead?

The words Mr. Taeil said suddenly came to mind.

“Demons are extreme individualists.”

“They are not the type to intervene just for the sake of helping someone else.”

That’s right… The book I borrowed from Ms. Pedia also mentioned the temperament of demons.

Unlike other heavenly beings, there was a sense of taboo associated with demons therefore information about them wasn’t always crystal clear. But the context was similar.

Demons are selfish.

Demons bring misfortune upon others.

Demons should not be trusted.

Therefore, even though they helped the village this time, it may not be because they wanted to help humans but because they had a hidden agenda.

However…

“It didn’t seem like that…”

So far, we had met twice – if it can even be called that. Even though Vergarde seemed cold and distant, he didn’t look like the kind who would harass or harm others without reason.

In the original book, although he was the villain, he never used underhanded tricks and fought the protagonist’s party in a fair and upright manner. He even emerged as a character, who at times, took more care of his subordinates than himself. The more I got to know him, the more I liked him.

Even earlier, didn’t he ask me if I was doing okay and also had his subordinate heal the wound on my foot?

I was so surprised that I nearly stood up from shock when I discovered an inconsistency while slowly recalling the contents of “The Tale of Ramona”.

The ‘Power of Healing’ was divine. You can’t heal using the ‘Power of Destruction’ that demons had.

In that case, what’s the identity of Kiel, the man who healed my foot…?

***

Vergarde and Kiel, who had taken care of their business, returned to Black Town.

Their hideout was among the many casino buildings in Black Town. Vergarde pointed at the long sofa inside their hideout and said, “Get some shut-eye, Kiel.”

“I am okay, sir.”

“You haven’t forgotten my words, that we have to go to the Demon Kingdom later, right?”

“Absolutely not, sir.”

Kiel’s maternal grandfather was a Heavenly Being. Correspondingly, Kiel had one quarter of divine blood and three quarters of demon blood. For that reason, he had a little divine power.

On the other hand, it also caused him inconvenience. Despite almost being a full demon, he couldn’t handle the air in the Demon Kingdom because of that one quarter.

He was better off whenever he was in the Human Kingdom therefore he’d take a nap when he’s at Black Town.

At the moment, he was tired but he couldn’t sleep. He was still filled with the rush after slaughtering the monster. When you see how he’s filled with excitement after that bloodbath, you can’t deny he was a demon.

“Thanks to you, we could easily take care of the monster. I don’t want to be an evil superior who doesn’t give his talented subordinate any time to rest.”

The divine power proved fatal towards the monster. Because of that, they effectively rounded up the pack of unruly monsters at Mt. Broke.

A couple of the monsters which ran towards the village were handled by other demon soldiers under Vergarde.

“I am really okay, sir. More than that…”

“What?”

“The Young Miss from earlier…”

Vergarde frowned.

“Do you mean the black-haired human female?”

“Yes, sir. Somehow, she seems to resemble ‘that person’…”

For a moment, it looked like a mass of black energy shone from Vergarde’s hands and the glass cup on the table shattered to bits and pieces. Kiel didn’t so much as bat an eyelid.

“Stop talking nonsense, Kiel.”

“Last time, when that Young Miss came to Black Town for business and created a scene, you sent her back without a word. It does bother you that she resembles ‘that person’, doesn’t it?”

“I said stop talking nonsense.”

Vergarde spoke in a low menacing voice. Even then, Kiel continued firmly.

“If you’re going to be this way, just request the Emperor to release ‘that person’ from imprisonment.”

When Kiel mentioned the ‘Emperor’, he wasn’t referring to the emperor of the Kalin Empire. He was referring to the ruler of the Demon Kingdom, the Demon Emperor.

“You sure have a lot to say today. I haven’t allowed you to speak presumptuously just because you scored some points with what you did today.”

Vergarde chose to avoid the topic, instead of responding to Kiel.

“Instead of that, focus on taking care of this situation. This matter seems to be related to the Emperor of Kalin. We will convene the elders of the demon world to discuss countermeasures. And if there’s a chance that the Emperor is thinking of breaking his promise, we have to give him a befitting warning.“

“…Yes, sir. I will call for it as soon as we return to the Demon Kingdom.“

Kiel realized that he would no longer be able to elicit a response from Vergarde, so he didn’t dig further and just did as he was told.

***

Roughly speaking, this world was divided into three kingdoms.

Where the heavenly beings reside, The Divine Kingdom.

Where the humans reside, The Human Kingdom.

Where the demons reside, The Demon Kingdom.

It may seem like both The Demon Kingdom and The Divine Kingdom were located in faraway places. In reality, there were entry points to both kingdoms located within The Human Kingdom.

There were countless stories of adventurers who entered gateways and ended up contributing to The Demon Kingdom or The Divine Kingdom. In exchange, they earned treasures before they returned to The Human Kingdom.

It could be said it was a prerequisite to be recognized as an adventurer of high repute. Ramona’s party also took part in the war waged over the Holy Grail of The Divine Kingdom. They played a significant role in winning it so they all received a treasure from the divine world. Of course, this was an event from the future.

“There’s a legend that the entry to The Demon Kingdom is guarded by someone wearing a headset, right?”

Mrs. Pedia’s explanation was so enthralling I felt like I was listening to long lost stories. Without even realizing it, I was completely engrossed.

Mrs. Pedia was the teacher that the Magnolia Merchants Firm found for me.

She was the wife of a Count. When he died leaving no heir behind, his title was inherited by his younger brother. As such, she lost her position and decided to return to her parental home and live a quiet life.

She had no desire to remarry and because she didn’t have an outgoing personality, she didn’t participate in many social activities. She was a teacher who perfectly met all my requirements.

She held the classes at her home. Her parents perhaps considered the duration of the class as a diversion and pastime for their usually idle daughter and didn’t interfere.

Even this family, that’s been living a life far removed from society, mentioned that they had heard the news of the older daughter of the Crescente Household who participated in an outdoor social activity after many years. I was relieved because it seemed like they hadn’t seen me at the party.

“Ms. Rian, you’re a really fast learner.”

“It’s nothing like that. I have been reviewing everything diligently.”

“Inborn elegance is not something you can learn by studying. You will receive a lot of love from your husband.”

My excuse to take these lessons was that I was taking bridal lessons. When she saw my uncomfortable expression during the conversation, the thoughtful Mrs. Pedia didn’t pry any further.

Maybe she thought I was a young commoner girl who managed to enter the private room of some aristocrat. Of course, if I don’t come to my senses, I may really end up like that.

“Let’s call it a day. Would you like some more tart?”

“No, thank you. I already ate a lot.”

Since they had good quality peaches, the head chef baked Peach Tarts. They were so delicious I ate without noticing until I was full. If I had any more, I wouldn’t be able to eat dinner.

“If you remember all the knowledge I passed on to you and everything I explained today about The Divine Kingdom and The Demon Kingdom, that should be sufficient. However, if you’d like to know more about it, I can lend you a book.”

“Yes, I’d like to borrow it please.”

It was not enough for a refined aristocratic young miss to just have exceptional etiquette. She also needed to have a vast expanse of knowledge. She doesn’t need to know everything in-depth, but it would be beneficial to have superficial knowledge about a variety of subjects.

Given that there were several mythologies in the Demon and Divine Kingdoms, everyone studies them, at least to some extent, from a religious point of view.

I thanked her for the class, took the book, and returned to the Crescente Mansion.

When I arrived at the mansion, the news that an invitation from the Imperial Palace had arrived was waiting for me.

Though this time, the invitation was extended to all members of the family.

His Majesty occasionally invited members of influential families and held conversations with them over a meal. It must be the turn of the Crescente family this time.

We were invited a few times before, but after father passed away, only Marianne and Sharon attended with little Rudolphe in tow.

This time, I must attend as well… Anyhow, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s a bit embarrassing because Leonhart will be there too.

Marianne was going berserk.

“What do you mean cotton fabrics are being imported from the Cotton Kingdom?! Why is this only getting reported to me now?”

“I apologize. I only just found out…”

“Who’s the one importing it? Who dared to do such a thing!”

“The Magnolia Merchants Firm. It seems to be a business run directly by Count Kenneth Relampago.”

“The likes of a trader dares to mess with our family?! The invitation from the Imperial Palace arrived just in time. I must inform the Emperor when we meet. I will ask him to put that high-spirited Count Relampago in his place!!”

I snorted and went up to my room. The Emperor was not the kind of person who would allow such favoritism. Also, it was not like he personally owes our family a favor.

To be honest, compared to our family that can be likened to a toothless tiger, supporting the rather influential Magnolia Merchant Firm would be the more profitable option.